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History of The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland

The Donkey Sanctuary UK was founded in 1969 by Dr. Elisabeth Svendsen MBE. The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland was founded by Paddy Barrett in 1987 and then became affiliated with The Donkey Sanctuary UK. The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland registered as an Irish charity in 2011.

Over the past 31 years, The Donkey Sanctuary Ireland has cared for and loved over 5,600 neglected and abandoned donkeys and mules. Today we have in excess of 1,800 donkeys in our care, over 550 of which have been rehomed back into the community to Guardian Homes.

We are also involved in outreach community projects such as our Donkey Welfare Improvement Scheme (DWIS) which provides support to private donkey owners in veterinary improvements such as castration, microchipping, veterinary treatment and farriery for donkeys.